Wal-Mart supermarket persuades publisher to remove swearing from children's book

Asda has persuaded publishers Random House to reprint copies of a popular book by Dame Jacqueline Wilson after a complaint from a parent that it contained a swearword.

By Sarah Knapton

11:57PM BST 22 Aug 2008

The company, which is owned by Wal-Mart, the US chain which refuses to sell music with explicit lyrics, pulled the books from sale after Anne Dixon, 55, came across the expletive in the best-selling book My Sister Jodie

Now Random House Children's Books has said it will change the offending word – by altering one letter – substituting it with "twit" when the book is reprinted.

Only last week Random House pulled a book about Islamic Prophet Mohammed for fear it would offend Muslims.

On the publisher's website, My Sister Jodie is recommended for children aged from nine to 11.

"I am not a prude," said Mrs Dixon, of Stanley, County Durham. "In fact, I am quite broad-minded, but this is completely inappropriate for children. I bought the book for my niece as a present and was reading it when I came across the word.

"The book has an attractive cover and is clearly for children. They should not have to be subjected to trash and vulgarity.

"I did not expect this from a well-respected author and do not want my young niece to have to see this obscene slang."

Mrs Dixon, who regards herself as an ordinary housewife with no bone to pick with anyone, bought the book as a gift for her nine-year-old great-niece, Eve Coulson.

She said: "She comes to visit me regularly and we read to each other.

"We have all the Enid Blyton books, such as the Famous Five and Secret Seven, and had finished all of them.

"I thought I would get her something a little more modern and had heard about Jacqueline Wilson through the popular Tracy Beaker television series."

Mrs Dixon said she took the precaution of reading through the book before giving it to her niece because she was worried it might be too sad.

But she was astonished the former Children's Laureate would allow such swearing. "I got to the page where reference was made to a 'toffee-nosed twit'," she said.

"On the next page the word changed. I thought I was mistaken, but then I saw to my shock it had been repeated twice again."

Mrs Dixon decided to email the author. She said: "I asked her if she was aware of this word and if she could do something about it.

"I would like her to explain how she would want me to explain this to my daughter – even if it is in the context of the character."

Mrs Dixon complained to Asda when she heard nothing from Dame Jacqueline.

A spokesman for Random House Children's Books said: "In the context of the character, we felt it was used in a way that accurately portrayed how children like Jodie would speak to each other.

"The book is aimed at children aged 10 and over, and we felt it was acceptable for that age range.

"However, in light of this response we have decided to amend the word when we reprint the book."

A spokesman for Asda said: "Since the book was launched in March this year, we have sold over 28,000 copies and this is the first complaint we have had. Jacqueline Wilson books are extremely popular with our customers, and are the top-selling children's books in most high street stores."

Dame Jacqueline, who has sold more than 20 million books in the UK alone and her stories have been translated into more than 30 languages, was unavailable for comment.